Betrayal
by TheMysticalFett
Summary: The winding road to hell is paved with the good intentions of both friend and foe.


Back with an idea that hit me as I let my thoughts run free and wild.

TMF: I own nothing as always. Just a poor, poor young man making his way in the world, and enjoying every step.

Each betrayal begins with trust - Unknown

As a nationally ranked karate champion, Arisawa Tatsuki knew pain and injury like few could. The sudden starburst of agony from a front to knuckle hitting the jaw to the shooting throb that came from being battered repeatedly in an area over the course of a tournament. She was no stranger to physical tribulation.

What she felt now was not something she had ever felt before. This was not a pain that could be managed or pushed through. This, this was agony on a level not physical.

Four words. One sentence. All cumulating in more confusion and rage than the female knew what to do with. This was agony, suffering, anguish, betrayal, betrayal, betrayal...

With a sickening lurch Tatsuki's mind flashed to what had been said barely two seconds before.

"This doesn't concern you."

Ichigo, her classmate, training partner, and best friend for over eleven years had brushed her of. Not on something trivial, or even something moderately important. No, he had told her that the matter of her best friend disappearing was not something she should concern herself with. That a secret world which had changed him and several of her classmates, and more than likely had been responsible for making Orihime vanish as if carried away by the wind, was nothing to be think or be worried about. That it was none of her goddamned concern.

In one instance Arisawa Tatsuki would have given into her hurt and thrown a wild punch at the Substitute Shinigami before her. However, a lifetime of discipline is not so easily forgotten, even in times of great distress. She would not let rage rule her, even as the knowledge of betrayal ricochoted through her mind and reverberated through her soul. She would not be broken so easily.

Focus. Focus on the flow of her breathing. Inhale and exhale. All else is meaningless, simply ash and broken dreams on the wind.

"Tatsuki, stay ou-"

With a speed that surprised all present, even the teen who had gone up against Kuchiki Byakuya and emerged victorious, the karate prodigy snapped her right leg forward. The inside leg kick blew through Ichigo's balance and started him toppling. Arms busy shooting out to break his fall, he never noticed the fist until it was too late.

Tight , controlled, and with unparalleled momentum behind it, a hook is devastating under any circumstances if it lands solidly. Hitting someone already falling with no balance or way to brace themselves?

With a squishy crunch Tatsuki's fist blasted into Ichigo's jaw. Face flying away from the strike, his painful flight was rudely interrupted by the metallic windowsill. Physics was not denied its due by any application of Reiroyoku, and as such his head bounced away from the surface. All of this ended up with the tall, lanky warrior sprawled on the floor.

"Fuck you, Kurosaki-san"

Shock painted itself across every face there, including that of the downed Ichigo. Arisawa Tatsuki never swore. She was violent, and brash at times, but Tatsuki was scrupulous in keeping her language clean. Even more than that however, was what she called her long time friend in an arctic tone. Since age four she had referred to him as Ichigo or even various nicknames, but not once after their first meeting had she ever called him Kurosaki. This more than anything else told of the depth that Ichigo had angered and alienated her.

Without another word Tatsuki spun on her heel and precisely strode down the hall and out the hallway, leaving Kurosaki Ichigo to acknowledge what he had done to his staunchest ally and friend. For Tatsuki might eventually forgive but she would never forget her betrayal by the one she had trusted with everything.

TMF here again. Simply expounding on an idea that popped into my head. Tatsuki always seemed to get the short end of the stick in Bleach, and I felt like evening the scales a bit. Not to mention that Ichigo comes across as a total tool to someone who has been with him SINCE the beginning on a highly personal matter, and gets away with it. No says I. Anyway, off my soap box. Any critiques are more than welcome. Till next tale, TMF out.


End file.
